The Godfather 40th Anniversary Celebration Is An Offer You Can't Refuse

By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 4, 2012 8:00PM

Though you very well may have ended up watching part or all of The Godfather on Thanksgiving if you followed our directions, the film is really a Christmastime affair. Sollozzo approaches Don Corleone in mid-December and the attack on the Don take place amid the holiday season. Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes, but Tom Hagen got dropped off post-kidnapping among the Christmas trees. And what could be a better holiday advice than "Don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again?"

It's been 40 years since Francis Ford Coppola's landmark gangster epic went to the mattresses for America's heart, achieving the status of cultural touchstone that very few films can approach. If you have only seen it on television, DVD or Blu-ray, a special screening this Saturday of the digitally restored version of the classic in Sony 4K is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with the classic in a version whose resolution and color balance will far surpass those formats.

If that weren't enough, you'll also get an introduction and post-film discussion from Chicago Film Critics Association members Mark Dujsik and Nick Allen. You'll have to find your way to the Muvico Theatre in Rosemont, but luckily they'll be serving an Italian dinner at the in-house restaurant, with "Clemenza's special meatball recipe" the feature of the evening's menu.

The 40th-anniversary screening of The Godfather screens at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Muvico Theatre, 9701 Bryn Mawr Ave. in Rosemont.